Of Jesters in April
by ohlookrandom
Summary: "So when are you getting married again?" "WHAAAAT!" Oh, Ruby, you and Norman should do stand up comedy. Implied Franticshipping, mostly father and son interaction.


Hello there! I would like to thank everyone who added my other fics to their favorites list, and also the reviewers who took the time to say that they liked the stories I put up :D I hope you guys like this one- I wrote it at midnight, so it's a little.. _ehh_. Plus I had chocolate chip cookies, which on any normal day makes me loopy, but add that plus the midnight writing binge.. Well. 'Nuff said.

With that out of the way, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I wish I did, but I also wish I was the daughter and heiress to the fortune of Bill Gates.

* * *

Norman eyed his son over the top of the _Hoenn Enquirer. _Ruby continued stroking his Nana's fur, completely oblivious to his father's critical gaze; he'd been given that gaze so many times that he had become completely impervious to it. Norman cleared his throat gruffly, and still Ruby didn't look up from cleaning his Pokemon's silky pelt.

"Ruby," Norman finally uttered, and his son looked up. "Yeah?" he answered, his voice not as deep as Norman's, but deep all the same. The Petalburg City Gym Leader observed his son; over the years, his nineteen year old son had grown taller, his voice had grown deeper, and his eyes had an extraordinary, sharp glint around them. Norman wasn't sure when, but his son had become a man.

The older man lowered his newspaper. "When… when are you going back to Sinnoh?" he asked.

Ruby scratched his ear. "Well, the contest doesn't start until next week, but Wallace asked me to go there on Friday and train this new batch of trainees that he found. Supposedly they have tons of potential."

"Is Sapphire going with you?" Norman questioned, and his keen eyes didn't miss the faint start Ruby gave when his friend's name was mentioned. "I don't know, Dad," he replied without missing a beat. "I thought she was staying back to train with you. Aren't you grooming her to be the next Gym Leader?"

There was no trace of bitterness in Ruby's tone, since he had never wanted to take over his father's position anyway (although sometimes he told Sapphire that if he really tried, he probably could have, and she secretly agreed). Norman rubbed his nose, thinking about it. "She didn't say anything," he mentioned, "but I was thinking that I would give her the week off to come watch you. I know how you two are joined at the hip."

"Dad, you know how she gets with contests. She still thinks they're stupid and weak."

"_I _still think they're stupid and weak," Norman muttered.

Ruby chose to ignore that remark. "My point is, Dad," he said, "even if you give her the week off, she'll still be training, against my Pokemon no less. She might as well be in the Gym with you."

"I suppose that's true." Norman was quiet for a moment as Ruby continued to stroke Nana's fur, his gaze taking on an absentminded look that Norman rarely saw. Finally, he cleared his throat again, and Ruby came back to earth with a start. "I'll give her the week off, anyway," Norman muttered, fiddling with his breakfast fork. "She's been training hard and I know you two spend every waking moment together anyway. When are you getting married again?"

This time, Ruby choked on his own saliva. "WHAT?" he bellowed when he finally got his breath back.

His father blinked at him. "Well, you have been dating her since you were thirteen," he pointed out, rather baffled at his son's outburst. "Don't yell at me again in the future, by the way- I'll ground you."

"I- _no I haven't-_" Ruby was sputtering as he attempted to form coherent sentences. "And I'm nineteen, I'm legally allowed to talk back, and you can't ground me!"

"You haven't?" Norman considered this for a moment. "That's funny… the way you two spent every moment together and argued so much, I just assumed you were dating." He paused. "Even if you're nineteen, I can still ground you. All I have to do is take away your sewing machine."

Ruby struggled to say something. "We weren't dating when we were thirteen," he protested lamely. Then he realized what his father had just said, and his eyes narrowed. "And you can't take my sewing machine away, it's with Wallace."

Norman shook his head. "Well, you two talk about each other so much that it's no wonder everyone thinks you're going to get married eventually. And Wallace was a former Gym Leader; we still talk all the time."

"EVERYONE thinks we're going to get married?" Ruby shrieked, before continuing in a lower tone, "And Dad, Wallace isn't going to simply hand over my sewing machine."

"Well not everyone. Just the trainers at my Gym, the salespeople at the Mart, Nurse Joy…Wallace thinks so too," Norman added, his fingers tapping the rim of his coffee mug.

"That _is _everyone! That's the whole city of Petalburg!" Ruby yelped. "And I've told Wallace a million times not to discuss my personal life!"

"Ah, well, I guess I'll just have to tell your mother to stop making the wedding invitations," Norman sighed. He yelled into the next room, "Caroline! The wedding's off!" He cast a glance at his son, who had his face buried in his arms. "Or was it never on?"

Ruby's mother came into the room, holding a stack of cards. "Really?" she asked, disappointment written all over her face. "But the calligraphy was turning out so well, too."

Ruby was about to combust when something crossed his mind. "You don't do calligraphy," he said suspiciously. "You were always bad at it and I had to do it for you."

"I think this looks beautiful, don't you, honey?" his mother grinned deviously, ignoring his subtle accusation as she slid over a card to Ruby. Ruby took one look at it before sinking back down into his chair, groaning about how evil his parents were.

On the card it simply read _Happy April Fools, Ruby!_

…

"And so it turns out that they played an April Fools joke on me," Ruby complained to the male Dex Holders, who were all in front of their respective videophones. He'd called them to tell them about this morning's incidents. "Can you believe them?"

"That's okay. My mom put salt in my coffee this morning, not sugar," Gold said rather cheerfully. "I like your parents much better, Ruby."

Ruby snorted. "I'd like to see if you still like them when they pull something like this on you." He paused for a moment. "Y'know," he began, chuckling a little, "I thought for a second that one of you guys told about the engagement. I guess not. I'm too paranoid sometimes."

"Hang on," Green said slowly. "We weren't supposed to tell anyone?"

Ruby blinked. "That's what the "Don't tell anyone" line in the email I sent you guys was for."

There was a silence before Red and Gold said simultaneously, "Oooops."

* * *

OOOOPS. Hahaha. Sorry if there was any OOC-ness; I needed Norman to be a little more mellow when he got older :D

Well? Review? Review please! It's calling your name... calling it!


End file.
